BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:5

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:5

 

na hi kascit ksanam api

jatu tisthaty akarma-krt

karyate hy avasah karma

sarvah prakrti-jair gunaih

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

na--nor; hi--certainly; kascit--anyone; ksanam--a moment; api--also;

jatu--at any time; tisthati--remains; akarma-krt--without doing

something; karyate--is forced to do; hi--certainly;

avasah--helplessly; karma--work; sarvah--all; prakrti-jaih--born of

the modes of material nature; gunaih--by the qualities.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has

acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can

refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

 

PURPORT

 

It is not a question of embodied life, but it is the nature of the

soul to be always active. Without the presence of the spirit soul, the

material body cannot move. The body is only a dead vehicle to be

worked by the spirit soul, which is always active and cannot stop even

for a moment. As such, the spirit soul has to be engaged in the good

work of Krsna consciousness, otherwise it will be engaged in

occupations dictated by illusory energy. In contact with material

energy, the spirit soul acquires material modes, and to purify the

soul from such affinities it is necessary to engage in the prescribed

duties enjoined in the sastras. But if the soul is engaged in his

natural function of Krsna consciousness, whatever he is able to do is

good for him. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.17) affirms this:

 

tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer

bhajann apakvo 'tha patet tato yadi

yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim

ko vartha apto 'bhajatam sva-dharmatah

 

"If someone takes to Krsna consciousness, even though he may not service

properly, and even though he may fall down from the standard, there is

no loss or evil for him. But if he carries out all the injunctions for

purification in the sastras, what does it avail him if he is not Krsna

conscious?" So the purificatory process is necessary for reaching this

point of Krsna consciousness. Therefore, sannyasa, or any purificatory

process, is to help reach the ultimate goal of becoming Krsna

conscious, without which everything is considered a failure.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.